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ISO STEPHEN BRUNET
fore nightfall and fought with such virtue and spirit that the audience
thought it was watching a battle involving Amazons (51-56). It is possible
that the women were armed with shield and spear and had one
breast uncovered to reinforce the audience's impression that it was
watching real Amazons fight. 18 As Statius makes very clear (n.b. 57 hie=
"at this point"). the performance of these women was followed by an
entirely separate performance in which a large number of dwarfs participated
(57-64). Scholars have often assumed that these dwarfs, like
the women. fought as gladiators. 19 I have recently argued. however. that
these dwarfs appeared solely as boxers. 2o They first put on a display of
their athletic skill by fighting each other. They next participated in a recreation
of the geranomachy in which they took on the role of pygmies
and fought it out hand-to-beak with cranes to the amusement of Mars.
Virtus. and. presumably. the entire audience. Matching dwarf boxers
against women. who not only outweighed them but were probably
armed like Amazons. would have been nonsensical. Moreover. to judge
from Statius' reference to the laughter provoked by the actions of the
dwarfs. the purpose of this part of the show was to provide some lighthearted
relief from the preceding bloody display of the female gladiators.
Statius' account is thus sufficiently detailed for us to conclude that.
while Domitian certainly made good use of women and dwarfs in this
show. they did not appear in the arena at the same time. and their roles
as entertainers were quite different.
Like Statius, Dio connected Domitian closely with the use of dwarfs
and women in spectacles. The reference comes in a passage in which he
first dealt with the celebrations for Domitian's Dacian victory but then
digressed to comment on the special features of Domitian's other
games. 21
As his last remark in that passage. Dio notes that Domitian often
gave games at night and that there were occasions when he matched
dwarfs and women: lTOAAeXKIC DE Kal TOlle aywvac VUKTWp ElTOIEI, Kal
ECTIV OTE Kal veXvovc Kal yvvalKac cvve[3aA E (67.8.4). Except for the
mention of dwarfs, Dio's comment matches very closely Suetonius' remark
that Domitian held nighttime spectacles and spectacles involving
18 The use of costuming is discussed below in the last section.
19 This view goes back to G. Lafaye. Quelques otes sur les Silvae de Stace.
premier livre (Paris 1896) 72-73. It is accepted by. among others. Navarre
(above. n. 3); Friedlander. Sittengeschichte Roms'o 11.53; and Ville (above. n. 7)
152.
20 For the prevalence of dwarf boxers in the Roman world and the role they
played in Domitian's Saturnalia. see S. Brunet. "Dwarf athletes in the Roman
Empire:' AHB 17 (2003) 17-32.
21 On the structure of this passage. see Ville (abov . n. 7) 151.